A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 4, 2016 at 5:53pm PST

Headed to the immigration museum next, and it was an eye-opening experience, understanding why the government does the things it does. If there’s one thing I took away from the AU trip, it was that the AU govt was really good at explaining its policies to the people. There was 1 exhibit that I still remember, with clips of a potential immigrant interviewing to get into the country, and the visitor had to decide if the guy should be allowed in.

After that it was just heading to the gardens and the cathedrals. St Patrick’s Cathedral was beautiful and huge, and Fitzroy Gardens had a really nice place you could get coffee/chocolate from, and sit there enjoying the breeze and scenery.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 5, 2016 at 3:21pm PST

Headed over to the Parliament House after that, which had a really good exhibit of how the government functioned, and what actually goes on in those halls. Headed over to South Melbourne Market after touring the Parliament, and it was quite a nice place to visit, even if I did not get anything. It had a more local vibe as compared to QVM, and I would definitely visit again.

Ended the day with a visit to the State Library of Victoria, and I was mind-blown again. The exhibits were awesome, as was the library section. They even had a room for people to play chess in, and an art gallery in the library. This was a country where knowledge was made available freely for everyone, and I felt inspired just being in these buildings.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 5, 2016 at 9:07pm PST

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Day 3

Started this day by flying to Sydney, but not before having breakfast at The Little Mule. Nice ambience, but food was just ok. Nevertheless, still a good place to sit down and have coffee in the morning.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 6, 2016 at 6:54pm PST

Headed to the State Library of New South Wales after that, and that was probably the second best thing I did this trip. Learnt a fair bit about public architecture in Australia, and it made me realise that the government, by experimenting with public architecture, could push the country’s public spaces forward, and set new standards in both construction and design.

“One of the things that was unique about the government architecture was that they designed everyday buildings. From day one, with Greenway, people have criticised them as too grand. But I think that was one of the best things about them. They represented the best architecture of their time even if [the buildings] had very ordinary uses. They tried to set the standard.” – The Sydney Morning Herald

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 6, 2016 at 8:51pm PST

QVB, Martin’s Place and The Strand Arcade weren’t that interesting (for me), and I headed towards the Maritime Museum soon after. Again, most of the exhibits at the Museum was actually free to enter, although entering the warships required a ticket, and the free area was very educational, and included exhibits on naval combat, as well as the Shackleton Expedition.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 7, 2016 at 2:15pm PST

Headed over to the Maritime Museum (again) after breakfast, and started touring the warships. And the tour was amazing. The guides knew their stuff, and was able to introduce the stuff on display with a passion that I rarely saw elsewhere.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 7, 2016 at 4:24pm PST

After the museum, I started on a 30min walk to Harry‘s, and the pie was amazing, and it was so good, I got 2 tiger’s. Word of warning though, it’s a walk from the CBD area, and there are many birds there waiting to feast on your food if left unattended.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 7, 2016 at 5:46pm PST

Walked to the Sydney Opera House afterwards, and then up the Harbour Bridge. The views were pretty good, and despite the harsh sun (I actually got sun burnt that day), the chilly wind made up for it I guess. The views were good, but once was enough I guess.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 8, 2016 at 1:26pm PST

Went to the Old Melbourne Gaol shortly after checking into the hotel, and was just in time for the Watch House experience. It was pretty good, and gave a pretty interesting experience on what being an inmate back then was like.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 8, 2016 at 8:38pm PST

I was lucky because that was also the night the Queen Victoria Market’s Night Market was actually open, and went there and tried the food there. It wasn’t spectacular, but the atmosphere was pretty good. Also, listened to a musician play music from instruments made of fruits while having dinner, and that was definitely an interesting experience.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 8, 2016 at 10:34pm PST

Headed back to the gaol after that for the Hangman tour. Now that was an experience that I’ll never forget. The guide, dressed in the hangman’s attire was sharing about the prisoner experiences, and also telling us stories of the prisoners and the hangings. The performance from the guide was really good, and that made me sign up for the ghost tour the following night.

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 9, 2016 at 1:25am PST

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Day 6

Had breakfast at Seven Seeds the following morning at the recommendation of a friend. Hot chocolate was really good, the mains was decent, and it was easily a 10min walk from the edge of the CBD (10mins from the last free tram stop).

A photo posted by laurenceputra (@laurenceputra) on Mar 9, 2016 at 8:43pm PST

Visited the National Gallery of Victoria, followed by Federation Square, which were both free by the way. I was quite impressed at how such a large art gallery was made publicly accessible for anyone to visit, even though I couldn’t actually appreciate any of the art in there.

Ended the day with the Ghost tour at the Old Melbourne Gaol, which is another tour that I would strongly recommend, except for the faint hearted.

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Day 7

Ended the trip with breakfast at QVM, which wasn’t all that good, but decent for the price.

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laurence

I am a Senior Engineer with Singapore Power, and have a passion for security and distributed systems. Prior to this, I have worked in companies including PayPal, 99.co, and Nugit.
I also headed GeekcampSG from 2012 to 2014, and am currently focusing my free time on social empowerment initiatives including IAmTalentedSG, and CollaborateSG. When not doing work, or any of these stuff, I can be found cafe hopping/taking photos/trekking.